Time Off

At Fakanal Etterem (the name means “wooden spoon”) in Budapest’s bustling, historic Vasacsarnok Central Market, you can dine on delicious versions of such Hungarian specialties as savory gulyas (goulash), paprikas chicken, and nokedli (gnocchi). You can also go upstairs for a basic cooking course and learn how to prepare these dishes yourself.

Often described as the most precious jewel in the Greater Antilles, Cuba has an allure that is hard to resist. For many, the island is “forbidden fruit” because most Americans couldn’t enter the country legally after the U.S. broke diplomatic relations and closed its embassy in 1961.

“Watch out—there’s a lot of money here,” says my guide, Merab, with a smile. “You will get very rich.” In the former Soviet of republic of Georgia, when you walk through cow dung, you supposedly become wealthy. I sidestep the muck and continue behind Merab up a steep, rocky trail, past the small village of Gergeti. The odor is foul.

Out here in the deep frontier of Montana, there’s a clear sense of where you are. Wide open spaces. Rugged, mountainous terrain. Deep lakes. Crystalline skies. This is a world that seems custom made for skiing, hunting, fishing and golf.

I dipped my paddle into the crystal-clear saltwater shallows and set off a series of minor explosions. Instantly, a dozen elegant, squawking great egrets leaped into the air from a grove of leathery-leafed mangroves. Then a school of silvery baby tarpon erupted, splashing beneath the prehistoric-looking, reddish-orange dangling roots.

Usually, eating out is all about being part of a restaurant’s bustle and ambiance. Maybe, too, about being seen. But sometimes, the goal is different. For special occasions, the best seats in the house aren’t necessarily at booth No. 1 or the table with the sweeping view of the dining room.

Quote/Unquote

““CEOs go to their vacation homes just after companies report favorable news, and CEOs return to headquarters right before subsequent news is released. More good news is released when CEOs are back at work, and CEOs appear not to leave headquarters at all if a firm has adverse news to disclose. When CEOs are away from the office, stock prices behave quietly with sharply lower volatility. Volatility increases immediately when CEOs return to work.”
—David Yermack, a New York University finance professor, whose recently released study shows a correlation between when CEOs take their private jets on vacation and movements in their companies’ stock price
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